29 Jan 2009
The Secretary of State for Scotland Jim Murphy today hosted a meeting with faith leaders at the Scotland Office to discuss the effects of and Government response to the current economic crisis with representatives of some of the main faith groups in Scotland.
He met Archbishop Conti, Archbishop of Glasgow, Dr M S Kaushar, the General Secretary of the Islamic Centre in Glasgow, the Rev. Ian Galloway, Convener of the Church of Scotland's Church and Society Council, Church of Scotland and Leah Granat of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities.
The Secretary of State explained the steps the UK Government has taken to support people across the country through the economic downturn and heard from the faith leaders on initiatives they are putting in place in their own communities.
Following the meeting, the Secretary of State said:
"We are in unprecedented economic times and I was clear today that government can not do it all. There is no exclusively secular solution to the challenges we face and the faith communities here in Scotland have an important role to play in helping the most vulnerable in our society.
"The meeting had a sense of shared purpose and an understanding that we are in this together and can only get out of it together. The faith groups do a huge amount of often unheralded work tackling poverty at the grassroots level in Scotland and I'm confident we can work together towards the common cause of helping those who most need help through the downturn."
News Release: SS1476
Date: 29 Jan 2009